Katie and Rob's Mind Blowingly Amazing Winvian Weekend Wedding

First I must start by saying that Katie and Rob are so lovely. It was plain to see they are very much in love and totally down to earth, to boot. I mean, they invited me, their floral designer, to come "hang out" at any of the events at their weekend-long wedding. So kind. They chose Winvian, a truly spectacular Relais and Chateaux boutique hotel (with incredibly unique and well appointed guest cottages rather than rooms) and they rented out the entire place for the whole Labor Day weekend for their friends and family. There was a country fair complete with NYC food trucks, a Ben and Jerry's stand, boucy houses and hot air balloon rides. There were fireworks, desserts shipped in from a Michelin-starred NYC restaurant (Momofuku), a cake to end all cakes from Ana Parzych - it was over the top in every way, a dream weekend - and yet felt so personal and so "them". Truly and honor to have been a part of this very special weekend. Here are some of the gorgeous photos JAG Studios captured.

First, the welcome dinner. We shot for classic New England elegance. We also wanted the gorgeousness to build all weekend so we kept the decor pretty but more simple at the start:

Amazing fire pit with torches. 

The very old colonial home is now the central hub of the hotel where guests check in, have a drink or have dinner. 

 Beautiful lounge area

The next day brought the country fair complete with food trucks, hot air balloon rides, canoe trips, etc. We used garden flowers grown locally. Rustic and pretty. LOVE the red picnic benches! 

Local zinnias, celosia, dahlias, etc

Hot air ballooning and canoeing. So fun. 

Bouncy barns and slides, super duper weenie, belgian waffle truck, etc. 

Red picnic benches rock.

Next was the rehearsal dinner. Rob's family planned a vintage travel themed affair. There were luggage tags,  tons of maps and old postcards on the rustic farm tables. The food was also served family style so we kept tables clean and modern with lots of wheatgrass and orange orchids scattered about. Trees for teh tent corners made the space more warm. Note the to-die-for tent flooring. 

  

The following day, Sunday brought the wedding! The ceremony was in a local church - a classic old New England white church. The cocktails took place back in the tent and then the reception was in Winvian's Gordon Brown House - an impeccably restored barn building that defies my poor description. Fireworks, formal elegance, a clear tent on the patio of star gazing, sparklers, an Ana Parzych cake and fireworks - perfection.

  

The tall centerpieces had hanging red amaranthus. Both the low and tall arrangements were filled with jewel tones garden roses, irises, stock flowers, lisianthus, vanda orchids, antique hydrangeas, bells of ireland, etc. Deep reds, regal purples, greens. Too pretty. The room is fairly brown with so much wood tones so the vibrancy of the flowers really worked. Rob Alberti's lighting was the perfect finishing touch, 

Fireworks and sparklers and the cutest pair. 

Ana's cake. In person, truly stunning. Those sugar flowers are so detailed. 

Eggplant orchids for the groomsmen.

 The low centerpieces in silver revere bowls. 

 Clear tent on the patio.

And of course the farewell brunch complete with mismatched teapots, garden roses, toile linens and granny chic china.

A huge thanks to JAG for sharing, Winvian for the referral and wonderful collaboration and especially to Katie and Rob for letting us help with their wonderful wedding weekend!

Spring / Summer Favs

As usual, I'm woefully busy and neglecting the poor, old blog. I update Facebook more religiously, so you can always "like" and see what's popping up there. Also, have some fun Pinterest boards of what's inspiring me these days. Anyhow, here are a few of my favorite things we've made so far this Spring and Summer. So much prettiness and such great customers!

It's Love: the Chalk Board Vase

Recently I was coming up with concepts for a museum gala, and I came upon something similar to this and instantly was smitten - the chalkboard vase. Unique, playful, artistic, able to be re-drawn and reused. In short, I'm in love. Here's my quick instagram pic of my proof of concept. I think it'd be awesome to have the table number on one of the 4 sides.

Announcing...Winner of Wedding Wire's Bride's Choice Awards 2012. 2nd Year in a Row!

We won the WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards 2012!

This means we are in the top 5% of Wedding Pros nationwide! The WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards™ recognizes the top local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ are determined solely by the reviews from over 1.2 million newlyweds.

Non-Floral Boutonnieres

A few years back a bride told me her fiance and all of his friends were major techies and could I incorporate pieces of a motherboard of a computer into their boutonnieres - my answer of course: "Why yes!" You see I love anything personal and a little different. So we did it and it got me to thinking - personalized boutonnieres for anyone. Sadly, I don't have a good photo of the motherboard boutonnieres, but more recently I've created some other fun ones. Guitar pick boutonnieres for a musical groom, preppy ones for the whale pants-wearing groom, etc. Over the summer, I did some cute non-floral ones for Niccole and Matthew who were married at a barn. These went with the theme perfectly, if I do say so myself!

Here are a few more I've done recently...

Butterfly - perfect for mid-summer with a black and white theme.

Birch bark "leaf", gold skeleton leaf, pine cone, tartan "leaf" and twine for a wintry, natural feel. Winter wedding? I think yes.

Seaside wedding? So nautical prep. If you have an idea for a custom one, I'd absolutely love to create it.